Students’ Learning Styles in the University of Lagos
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2012-06
Authors
Bakare, T.V.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Uganda, Kampala. East African Journal of Educational Research and Policy (EAJERP)
Abstract
Learning is at the heart of any educational venture and understandably the key objective of any student in the university system is to learn as a prerequisite to future endeavours. Learning is a fundamental human activity and students need, not only to learn in school but must remain capable of learning successfully throughout their lives in order to continue to grow and remain relevant and responsive to the national development aspirations. Student’s learning style has great implications for teaching/learning in the University environment. It is therefore of utmost importance for students to be familiar with their learning preference in order to understand themselves better and develop strategies which will enhance their learning potential. It has been found that students are largely unaware of their learning style or have not been interested in finding out prior to the study. The study therefore set out to establish different learning styles by encouraging students to take the short test that will help them identify their learning preference. The purpose of the study is to determine students’ learning styles and advice them on learning strategies from their designated learning style and also to furnish lecturers with the prevalent learning style trend to allow them plan matching teaching strategies. The entire student body in the Faculty of Education constituted the population of the study. For this the sampling technique was purposive. 600 students were randomly selected from the six Departments in the Faculty. The study is loosely based on the 24 item Learning Style Index test as a learning style inventory. The questionnaire was used as a short, quick way of assessing students’ learning styles. Learning styles may be Auditory, Visual or Tactile. Data collected were analysed using descriptive statistics and the result was presented graphically. A single hypothesis was tested using the chi-square statistical tool. The result gave a broad view of students’ learning styles to allow lecturers to determine a commensurate teaching method. The initial findings reveal that are generally Visual learners. It was therefore suggested on this basis that Lecturers in the various Departments be less dependent on the Lecture method and learn to mix different teaching methods, since the students’ individual learning styles are different and cut across the three types. It was also suggested that the university should help to sponsor a University wide study since it is successful students who can graduate and contribute effectively to sustain national development drives.
Description
Scholarly articles
Keywords
Students’ learning styles , Auditory , University environment , Visual , Research Subject Categories::SOCIAL SCIENCES::Social sciences::Education
Citation
Bakare, T.V. (2012). Students’ Learning Styles in the University of Lagos. East African Journal of Educational Research and Policy (EAJERP). 7, 39 – 56. June. Kampala, Uganda.